Nonspill vent means



Aug. 8, 1944. e. H. FRITZINGER NONSPILL VENT MEANS Filed April 24, 1942Patented Aug. 8, 1944 UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE NONSPILL VENT MEANS lGeorge H. Fritzinger, West Orange, N. or to' Thomas A. Edison,Incorporated; West, I"

Orange, J., a corporation of New Jersey L U Application. April 24,1942,Serial:No.-440;344;

6 Claims. (01. 1374295'} 1 This invention relates to non-spill ventmeans for liquid-containingreceptacles, and more par-, ticularly tonon-spill vent plugs for storage batteries.

. Storage battery cells are required tobe vented to permit the escape ofthe gases evolved by the cells. In those applications however where thebatteries are liable tobe tilted or inverted duringactuating mechanismfor non-spill vent devices.

It is another object to provide asimple valveactuating mechanism, for anon-spill vent plug, which is capable of exerting a strong actuatingpressure on the valve both to close the. valve 1 when the mechanism istilted and toopen thevalve when the mechanism is righted. To so obtain astrong actuating pressure on the valve, I

my invention contemplates the use of a simple toggle arrangement as ishereinafter fully described.

A yet further object of my invention is to provide a non-spill ventarrangement which is readily adjustable to control the angle at whichthe valve will close, and to compensate for variances in assembling andfor disformation of parts during service. i 1

Other and allied objects of my invention will" more fully appear fromthe following description" and the appended claims. i

In the description of my invention reference is had tothe accompanyingdrawing, of which: Figure:- 1 is a vertical sectional view to enlargedscale of a vent plug'arrangement according to one embodiment of myinvention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the vent Figure 1; and

plug of Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view to reducedscale of analternative arrangement of my invention. u

The vent plug shown in the accompanying figures includes acylindricalshell or casing I provided with an extension 2 at the bottomwhich is adapted to be threaded into the filler opening 3 of a storagebattery cell 4. Between the shoulder 5 at the bottom of the casingand aflange.. 6 surrounding the filler opening therelmay be interposed iagasket 1 for insuring a tight seal of the casing to'theba'ttery cover.This casing has a bottom'wall 8 provided with an axialvent open-' ing9;and has a-topwall or cap I!) threaded into V theupper endportion'thereof, which is provided with centralventfopenings Hjthe plugbeing thus'fo'rm-ed with a chamber i2 which is vented at thetop andbottomi In "the bottom Wall 8 below the vent opening 9 th'er'e-i'sprovided a valve seat 13, and supported below" thiswalve "seatforcooperation therewith is a valve I4; This valveis' carried by atoggle arrangement l5 which is suspended from the cap l0 and weighted'atits center joint by a lead weight l6; The upper element of this togglearrangement mayibe a cord or preferably a metal rigid rodi'l'ioinedintegrally'to the weight as shown in Figure 11' This rod" mayextend loosely: through an axial opening [8 in the cap I0 and mayterminate into a semisphere 19 at the top, which may be fused to or east[onto the end of the rod after the rod is passedthrough theopen ing.This semispheremay seat into a concavity. 20; provided Lin thetopsurface of the cap, to form a ball 'andf socket;porluniversal,joint ofthe. weight; to the cap Thelength ofthe rod l1 isv preferably such as.to support the weight at a level substantially midwaythe height of thechamber l2;

"In theembojdir'n entpshown iii-Figure 1 the weight may.comp rise twohalf sections applied face to face and fused together as at [6. Thesesections thenhave registering cavities forming a spherical socketllatzthecenter of the weight, and the lower. section has an opening 2|running downi from this socket. Universally pivoted to the'tweight is arig id depending metal stem or rod 22 having a ball23-fitting the socket2!.

Thisrodextends loosely through the lower vent opening and has the valvel4 aforementioned mounted on the lower end portion thereof.

The valve l4 and thecooperating valve seat It mayeach be spherical inshape, as is shown, but are to have difierentidiameters so that thevalve may engage the seat over, a limited annular sur-' face toform a.tight closure of the vent opening. For thesame purpose,,either the valveorvalve' seat should bemade-of semiresilient rubber.

It will be "seen that when the battery cell is inuprightpositien-thetoggle arrangement will depend in a straight line.from the cap Ill and assume a substantially trueaxial position in rela-'tion to the plug. V -In this position of the cell, the

valve is supported in-open position at a small 9; distance below thevalve seat, this distance being 1 righted, the weight will return bygravity to its axial position, and will act through the rigid valve stem22 to force the valve from the valve seat and restore the ventingthrough the plug.

As a typical set of values, the length of the T toggle arrangement |5andthus also approximately the height of the vent plug-may be two i inches,and the weight may be supported at a point midway the length of thistoggle arrange ment as is aforementioned, the rod element I! being thusapproximately one inch long. Also, the valve stroke, or maximum spacingof the valve from the valve seat, maybe .020 :inch. For these typicalvalues, the critical'tiltangle of the plug, or angle of displacement ofthe weight Hi from the vertical axis of the plug about the ball pivot H!as a center, at which the valve 14 will be closed is approximately 8".While it is not necessary to have the valve closed 'when the batterycell is tilted by only such a small angle, this criticaltilt angle is tobe made as small as is practical because then a greater force will beexertedupon the valve to hold it closed as thecell is tilted beyond thisangle. For instance, it can be readily shown that the force by which thevalve is pressed against the valve seat, when the battery cell is tiltedbeyond the critical tilt angle to an angle theta with respect to thevertical, is

W sin? 2 tan a c0s Q H where alpha is the critical tilt angle abovereferred to and W is theforce of gravity acting on the weight. It isseenfrom this equation that when the cell is tilted the force exerted onthe. valve to close it is already .75 as great as the force of gravityon the weight; and that when the cell is tilted 90 the valve closingforce reaches a maximum value approximately 3.5 times as great as thatof the weight. Of course, when the cell is wholly inverted the force onthe valve will be just that of the weight.

When the cell is tilted, the valve stem 22 rests on the shoulder 9' atthev inner end of the vent opening 9 and holds thevalve Mat the axis ofthe plug. This insures a continuous even contact of the valve againstthe valve seat, and thus a positive closing of the vent opening 9.

In the embodiment above described the ball 23 is to fit the socket 2|loosely, to be free from friction, but should be limited in verticalplay to a value substantially less than the distance of the valvestroke. For this condition it can be readily shown that if the valve isheld closed as the cell is righted, the weight fvvill exert a force onthe valve It will be noted that the weight may be rigidly secured toeither one of the rods or links of the toggle arrangement; however, forproducing a maximum valve-closing force, the weight is to be supportedwith its center of gravity substantially at the center joint of thetoggle. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, for example, a weight 25 issecured rigidly to the lower link of the toggle instead of to the upperlink as in the former embodiment. Here the toggle is shown as comprisinga pair of upper and lower links 26 and 21 joined a simply by a pair ofinterengagin loops 26 and 21' provided at the ends of the links. Theupper link is-a-t-tached to the cap of the plug in similar manner bymeans of an eyebolt 28, held to the cap ,by nuts 29; and by a loop 26"on the upper end of the link which is hooked to the eyebolt. The weight25, which is now in one piece, has a central bore 3D'through which thelower link 21 is pressed and is held rigidly to the link as by solder 3I. An upper circular cavity 32 in the weight serves to permit freeuniversal pivoting of the link 26. However, because of the provision ofthis concavity the weight is extended upwardly so as to maintain itscenter of gravity substantially at the universal joint between the linksof the toggle. The valve, which is here shown in the form of asemisphere 33, is secured to the lower link 21 in any'suitable manner.

It will be seen thatthis second embodiment represents a very simplearrangement of my invention wherein friction at the joints of the toggleis reduced to a minimum. Moreover, it will be noted that looseness inthe center joint which is desirable in tending further to reducefriction-4s not now critical with respect to the opening of the valvewhen the cell is righted since the weight is secured directly to thelower I chamber having upper and lower vent openings;

toggle means suspended within said chamber and comprising a rigid memberextending loosely through said lower vent opening, a valve mounted onsaid rigid member below said lower vent opening, and a weight rigidlysecured to said rigid member in position wherein the center of gravitythereof is substantially at the joint of said toggle means, said Weightserving to hold said a toggle means in a straight-line arrangementwherein said valve is displaced below said lower vent opening while saidbattery is in upright position, and to move the toggle means out of saidstraight-line arrangement to lift said valve into vent closing positionas the battery is tilted.

2. Non-spill vent means for a storage battery, comprising a wallprovided with a vent opening, a valve below said vent opening; a togglesuspension carrying said valve and provided with a single universaljoint at the center thereof; and

a weight carried by said suspension in position wherein the center ofgravity of the weight is substantially at said universal joint.

3. Non-spill vent means for a storage battery comprising a wall providedwith a vent opening, atoggle linkage suspended above said vent openingand having the lower link extending down through said vent opening, avalve secured to the lower link of said linkage below said vent opening,and a weight secured rigidly to one of the links of said linkage, saidweight being positioned and arranged so that its center of gravity issubstantially at the joint of said linkage.

4. A non-spill vent plug for a storage battery comprising a cylindricalstructure providing a chamber having vents in the top and bottomthereof, a tube surrounding the upper one of said vents and dependingwithin said chamber, a suspension connected to the top wall of saidchamber and extending down through said tube, a weight carried by saidsuspension below said tube; and a valve below said lower vent having arigid stem extending upwardly through said lower vent and connected tosaid weight.

5. A non-spill vent device for a liquid-containing receptacle comprisinga vented structure having upper and lower walls and provided with a ventopening in the lower wall thereof; a toggle arrangement suspended fromsaid upper wall and including a lower rigid link extending down throughsaid vent opening; a valve member rigidly connected to the lower portionof said lower link in a position below said vent opening; and a weightcarried by said toggle arrangement at the joint thereof for lifting saidvalve member to close said vent opening upon tilting said vent devicefrom a normal vertical position, said weight being rigidly connected tosaid lower link to press down on said valve member and restore the sameto open position upon returning said vent device from a tilted positionto said normal vertical position.

6. A non-spill vent device for a liquid-containing receptacle comprisinga vented structure including upper and lower walls and having a ventopening in the lower wall thereof; a toggle linkage suspended from saidupper wall and including a lower rigid link extending down through saidvent opening; a valve member carried :by said linkage below said ventopening; a weight carried by said linkage at the joint thereof, saidweight operating to lift said valve to a vent-closing position when saiddevice is tilted from a normal vertical position; and means to adjustsaid toggle linkage vertically relative to said lower wall whereby toset the distance of said valve member from said vent opening when thevent device is in a normal vertical position and to establish the angleof tilt of said device at which said vent opening will be closed by saidvalve member.

GEORGE H. FRITZINGER.

